Passing data through the URL – Fastory

Passing data through the URL lets you automatically collect certain information about the participants of your experience, without having to ask for it in the bot. All you need to do is add attributes and keys at the end of your experience URL.

What is it for?

This feature relies on two concepts:

Attributes are data points such as first name, email address or phone number. They form the columns of your user data in Audience.

Keys are the values an attribute can take. They fill in the corresponding columns in Audience.

In practice, you send a piece of information to Fastory directly through the URL, for example: https://story.tl/xxxx?first_name=john&last_name=doe. The data is then collected automatically, which helps you preserve the user's immersion and, in some cases, avoid asking a question you already know the answer to.

How does it work?

Enable the data-passing add-on on your experience. Without this activation, the feature will not work.

Choose the attributes you want to collect: a default attribute available in Audience, or your own custom attribute.

Customize your URL by adding the attribute and its key.

Find the collected values in the Audience tab of your workspace.

The attributes you can collect

Collect a default attribute

You can automatically collect the default attributes available in Audience:

first_name

last_name

email

phone

date_of_birth

address

postal_code

region

country

age

username

company_job

company_size

company_website

For these default attributes (email, username, phone number, etc.), you do not need to configure the bot. The information is collected automatically and available in the Audience tab of your workspace. However, the add-on must be enabled and the URL must be customized with the attributes and keys, otherwise the feature will not work.

Create your own custom attribute

You can also create your own attribute directly in the Bot. Open a question, then click the + button to create your attribute. Fill in the Attribute label you want to create, along with its format (text, number, date, true or false).

For example, you can create a prize attribute in text format.

Important: this new attribute must not be used in a bot question.

Imagine an experience where the user chooses the prize they want to win, between a Samsung device and an Apple device. You can set up two redirect buttons with two slightly different URLs:

For the Apple button: https://story.tl/contest?prize=apple

For the Samsung button: https://story.tl/contest?prize=samsung

All user data will be collected normally in Audience, whichever prize is chosen. The prize column of the .csv file will be filled with apple or samsung depending on the user's choice.

Customize the URL

At the end of the URL, add the attribute and the key like this: https://story.tl/xxxxxx?attribute=key.

For example: https://story.tl/contest?prize=apple.

You can also add several attributes to the same URL, separating them with &:

For example: https://story.tl/contest?prize=apple&email=john.doe@gmail.com.

Find the collected data

In the "bot data" file of the Audience tab, you will find the attributes and the keys inserted in the URLs.

Once the game is unpublished, you can download all the information as a CSV file from the Audience page of your workspace.

Best practices

Always enable the add-on before customizing your URLs, otherwise no data will be collected.

Never use a custom attribute in a bot question.

Choose short, consistent keys (for example hr, marketing) to keep the CSV file easy to read.

To pass several attributes in the same URL, separate them with the & character.

Make sure the emails you pass are valid, especially for an Instant Win.

Concrete use cases

If you want to collect emails without asking for them in the bot

You make your experience accessible from your app or your website, where the user logs in with their email and password. Your app's technical team then dynamically passes the user's email in the URL, for example https://story.tl/in-app-game/?email=xxx@xxx.com. When the user accesses your experience after logging in, their email is automatically sent to Fastory and collected in the "email" column of your Audience, without any bot being opened.

If you want to tell participants apart by the prize they chose

Set up two redirect buttons pointing to two URLs differentiated by the key, for example ?prize=apple and ?prize=samsung. The prize column will then show each participant's choice.

If you want to segment an internal contest by department

For a contest internal to your different departments (HR, marketing, accounting), add the department attribute in the bot's pre-fill settings, then differentiate entries with the key:

https://story.tl/my-internal-game?department=hr

https://story.tl/my-internal-game?department=marketing

https://story.tl/my-internal-game?department=accounting

You will then know which department each player belongs to, available in the CSV file.

FAQ

Does the feature work without enabling the add-on?

No. For Fastory to collect the data, the add-on must be enabled and your URL customized with the attributes and keys. Without this, no information is collected.

Do I need to configure the bot to collect a default attribute?

No. For default attributes (email, username, phone number, etc.), no bot configuration is required. The information is collected automatically and available in the Audience tab.

Can I pass several attributes in the same URL?

Yes. Separate each attribute with the & character, for example ?prize=apple&email=john.doe@gmail.com.

Can a custom attribute also be asked as a question in the bot?

No. A custom attribute intended for URL data passing must never be used in a bot question.

Where can I find the data passed through the URL in Fastory?

In the Audience tab of your workspace: the attributes and keys appear in the "bot data" file, and you can download the full CSV file once the game is unpublished.

Can a user enter an Instant Win with the email passed through the URL?

Yes. If the email passed is valid, the user can participate directly without having to re-enter it in the chatbot. Fastory's anti-cheat system still applies, and blacklisted emails cannot enter the Instant Win.